Category Archives: Economics

Never a good time to be a first time buyer

Posted on November 13, 2022 by grim

From the NYT: ‘It’s Never Our Time’: First-Time Home Buyers Face a Brutal Market First-time buyers account for the smallest share of the market in the 41 years that the National Association of Realtors has tracked such data. In the year from … Continue reading →

Posted in Demographics, Economics, Employment, National Real Estate | 16 Comments

That was fast…

Posted on November 11, 2022 by grim

From CNBC: Mortgage rates fall sharply to under 7% after inflation eases Mortgage rates fell sharply Thursday after a government report showed that inflation had cooled in October, prompting a decline in bond yields. The average rate on the 30-year fixed plunged … Continue reading →

Posted in Economics, Housing Bubble, Mortgages, National Real Estate | 75 Comments

Not a good time to buy a home…

Posted on November 10, 2022 by grim

From CNBC: Consumer confidence in the housing market hits a new low, according to Fannie Mae Rising mortgage rates, high home prices and uncertainty in the overall economy have Americans feeling more pessimistic about the state of the housing market. … Continue reading →

Posted in Economics, Housing Bubble, National Real Estate, Where's the Beef? | 129 Comments

Nobody positive about NJ housing

Posted on November 7, 2022 by grim

From NJ1015: As interest rates rise, the NJ real estate market’s new twist Interest rates have already been raised several times this year by the Federal Reserve but what’s expected to be another big hike on Wednesday will push the … Continue reading →

Posted in Economics, Mortgages, New Jersey Real Estate | 51 Comments

“People are in wait-and-see mode, because the numbers don’t work out” 

Posted on November 5, 2022 by grim

From the NYT: The Housing Market Is Worse Than You Think Everyone is feeling the squeeze. “Mortgage rates are sky high, prices are sky high, and there’s no inventory,” said Mark Zandi, the chief economist at Moody’s Analytics. “This may … Continue reading →

Posted in Economics, Housing Bubble, Mortgages, National Real Estate | 26 Comments

Fed Hates Housing

Posted on November 3, 2022 by grim

From Forbes: Fed Chair Calls Housing Market “Very Overheated” Jerome Powell said he viewed the U.S. housing market as “very overheated” after the pandemic, and believes supply and demand need to get back into balance.  Powell spoke at a press … Continue reading →

Posted in Economics, Housing Bubble, Mortgages, National Real Estate | 214 Comments

Word of the day: Reshoring

Posted on November 2, 2022 by grim

From FreightWaves: North America’s reshoring of the global supply chain With manufacturing and labor markets on the decline with North America’s traditional partners in Asia — and with trade with Russia collapsing — North America is in prime position to … Continue reading →

Posted in Economics, Employment, National Real Estate | 75 Comments

Ready … Set … HIKE!

Posted on November 1, 2022 by grim

From CNBC: Another interest rate hike from the Federal Reserve is on the way: Here’s how it may affect you This week, the Federal Reserve will likely raise rates for the sixth consecutive time to combat inflation, which is still running at … Continue reading →

Posted in Economics, Mortgages, National Real Estate | 50 Comments

Moody’s not optimistic about housing

Posted on October 31, 2022 by grim

From MSN: 14 Markets Where Home Prices Could Plummet by 30% The outlook for the nation’s housing market keeps deteriorating. Earlier this year, Mark Zandi, Moody’s Analytics chief economist, told Fortune that several of the most overheated housing markets in … Continue reading →

Posted in Economics, Housing Bubble, National Real Estate | 92 Comments

What happened to no bubble?

Posted on October 30, 2022 by grim

From CNBC: Pending home sales fell 10% in September, much worse than expected Pending home sales, a measure of signed contracts on existing homes, dropped a much worse-than-expected 10.2% in September from August, according to the National Association of Realtors. … Continue reading →

Posted in Economics, Housing Bubble, National Real Estate | 16 Comments

Recession Hits Jersey

Posted on October 22, 2022 by grim

From ROINJ: N.J. unemployment falls to 3.3%; job growth slows in September On Thursday, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics announced total nonfarm wage and salary employment in New Jersey increased by 3,800 in September, reaching a seasonally adjusted level of 4,239,600. … Continue reading →

Posted in Economics, Employment, New Jersey Real Estate | 39 Comments

Housing tanks, buyers screwed

Posted on October 21, 2022 by grim

From CNBC: Existing home sales fall to a 10-year low in September, as mortgage rates soar Existing homes are selling at the slowest pace since September 2012, with the exception of a brief drop at the start of the Covid 19 … Continue reading →

Posted in Demographics, Economics, Employment, Housing Bubble, Mortgages, National Real Estate | 70 Comments

Brokers Capitulate

Posted on October 20, 2022 by grim

From Mortgage News Daily: Another Day, Another 20 Year High in Rates There’s no sense in beating a dead horse or wading through another “same story, different day” assessment of rates. They were already at 20 year highs yesterday, so … Continue reading →

Posted in Economics, Mortgages, National Real Estate | 107 Comments

So which is it?

Posted on October 19, 2022 by grim

From New York Magazine: Wall Street Banks Are (at Least Somewhat) Freaked Out About a Recession You know things are serious when David Solomon, the Goldman Sachs CEO who spent the summer DJ-ing at Lollapalooza, hasn’t posted on Instagramabout his music since … Continue reading →

Posted in Economics, Employment, National Real Estate | 89 Comments

The new New Jersey

Posted on October 16, 2022 by grim

From NJ1015: WORK-FROM-HOME SURGE TRANSFORMS NJ ECONOMY Close to 1 million New Jerseyans a day worked from home in 2021, according to Census Bureau estimates from its American Community Survey that underscore the massive changes brought on by the pandemic. … Continue reading →

Posted in Demographics, Economics, Employment | 54 Comments